FHJC investigations are meant to expose illegal discriminatory actions by landlords, real estate agents, and others in the housing industry. But what about other practices, perfectly legal ones, that contribute to keeping our neighborhoods segregated? Our book recommendation this month is Upsold: Real Estate Agents, Prices, and Neighborhood Inequality by sociologist Max Besbris. Using extensive, detailed interviews with agents and buyers, as well as direct tag-along observations as they make their rounds, Besbris shows how agents successfully upsell, inducing buyers to spend more than their initially stated price ceilings. His research reveals how face-to-face interactions influence buyers’ ideas about which locations are desirable and which are less-worthy investments. Upsold shows how these preferences ultimately produce elite and exclusive neighborhoods whose aspiring residents can expect ever-rising housing prices, shutting out more and more potential buyers in a cycle of deepening economic and racial segregation.

Since December, we’ve been writing about the fair housing legislative package that had been introduced in Albany. The bills were written in the wake of the Newsday story Long Island Divided, in which the FHJC played an integral role. The State Senate passed twelve of the bills last February, but with the legislative session winding down, it was unclear how many, if any, would be passed in the Assembly.

Finally, in the waning hours of the final day of the session, seven of the bills were passed and are now awaiting Governor Cuomo’s signature to become law. Shout out to FHJC Policy Coordinator Britny McKenzie, who, along with our partner organizations in the New York Fair Housing Network, worked closely with legislators to get the bills through both houses. The package covers a broad range of fair housing enforcement issues, including increased funding for testing and training, establishing the State’s obligation to affirmatively further fair housing, and updating real estate companies’ policies and procedures. Click HERE for more detail on the legislation, along with links to register your support for the bills.